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The PCAOB will hold an open meeting on Tuesday, August 16, to discuss a concept release soliciting public comments on ways that auditor independence, objectivity, and professional skepticism could be enhanced, including mandatory audit firm rotation. They are also soliciting comments on their Concept Release for changes to the auditor’s reporting model. I’ve written on these topics many, many times.
Making the non-obvious connections between the audit firms and their clients, between the clients and each other, and between the firms and each other is getting to be like shooting fish in a barrel.
Ryan Chittum at the Columbia Journalism Review said some very nice things about my piece in Forbes on Roger Lowenstein and his “Wall Street: Not Guilty” piece.
Ok, so it’s not a quote. And they don’t even mention my name. But indulge me a minute. I’m thrilled to have been linked to by American Lawyer’s Amy Kolz in the AmLawDaily Blog regarding the Berkshire Hathaway investigation of the Sokol affair.
I was quoted on May 2 in an article in American Banker by Alex Ulam entitled, “Why Second-Lien Loans Remain A Worry”. My quote focused on disclosures and transparency – for the loans and the reserves for losses. It’s a subject I’ve written about extensively.
It may be that real accounting industry reforms will come this time. More likely than not they will not. But you can count on one thing. I will keep talking and writing about the need for those reforms.
I’ve added the link for the Book TV taping at the bottom of the post.
I’ve written extensively on the subject of disclosure of litigation contingencies, most recently for Forbes. My feelings about any clashes between auditors and accountants over disclosures for contingencies were outlined, with no subtlety, when the idea of tightening the requirements was first proposed in 2008.
This week the Goldman Sachs Facebook deal fell apart. Sort of. Due to the extensive media coverage of the details, in particular before they were final, Goldman Sachs was running some really big regulatory risks related to general solicitation of potential shareholders. Here’s an excerpt from what I wrote about the deal on January 4th. Read the rest in my column on Forbes, Accounting Watchdog.
This article was originally posted on Going Concern.com on April 29, 2010.
I watched all 11 hours yesterday of the Goldman Sachs testimony to the Senate Permanent Committee on Investigations. I never expected anyone to mention the auditors and I was not disappointed. You may think, given my criticism of the auditors, that I would be [...]
 Francine McKenna (@retheauditors) has more than twenty-five years of experience in consulting and professional services including tenure at two Big 4 firms, both in the US and abroad. Look for my column, "Accounting Watchdog" at Forbes.com and "Accountable" at American Banker. For more information, click "About" at the bottom of this page. Your firm can sponsor this specialized news site. For more information contact Francine McKenna, fmckenna@mckennapartners.com |
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